Lovers (Killers)
by disorganized-chaos
Summary: Ereri Hospital AU. When Levi Rivaille is admitted to the hospital after a car crash resulting in the deaths of his friends, he doesn't expect to find a cheerful boy named Eren Jaeger there, and he certainly doesn't expect to find happiness. But with time running out for one of them, will they be able to find love before it's too late? Rated T because reasons.
1. Prologue

**A/N: I'm baaaaccckkkk! (A lot sooner than I expected, and with a new story!) Looks like the Ereri fic won out this time, but I'll try to write that other TW/SPN fic...though no promises. Anywayyss, I should update this every other day like I did with Bloodlust, and it should be really cute and stuff but it will have plot. Sorry this chapter is so short, I promise the other ones will be longer! :) Also, if you don't know Isabel and Farlan were Levi's friends from before he joined the Survey Corps, and, because this is SNK, they died gruesome deaths. Yeah. Depressing. Anyways, onto the disclaimer~**

**I don't own SNK or any of its characters *cries quietly* **

* * *

><p><strong>~Prologue~<strong>

"That was so much fun, Levi!" Isabel laughed and bumped her best friend on the shoulder. A corner of Levi's mouth curled up in what resembled a smile as he listened to her excited voice ranting about the party they'd just come from.

"We should do that more often," Farlan agreed. They'd spent most of the night at a party down in the nicer section of the neighborhood and now they were heading back to Isabel's house. They'd left right as the others were breaking out the alcohol, but Isabel and Levi had shared a Pepsi, apparently making them unfit for driving according to Farlan, so he took the wheel. They were now going back to Isabel's for an impromptu sleepover and "studying" for their physics test Monday (which they were totally going to fail). But of course, first they had had to crash the frat boys' party, because as Isabel claimed, it would be the "time of their life".

"Did you have fun, Levi?" Isabel asked the other boy, who was sitting beside her in the backseat of Farlan's impeccably clean Audi.

A smile crossed the normally stoic boy's face. "Yeah. I had a good time."

These were moments that were going to be frozen in his memory for the rest of his life; Isabel's flushed cheeks, the hum of the Audi as they moved down the road, Farlan's wide smile, Isabel's short red pigtails bouncing on her shoulders and Farlan's sparkling gray eyes. All of them still full of adrenaline from the party before, only to have that excitement turn into horror as another car came speeding around the turn and slammed into the Audi.

There was the horrible shriek of metal scraping against metal as the car crumpled, and Isabel's scream and Farlan and Levi's exclamations of pain and surprise. The people in the other car were shouting and there was a lot of panic and commotion, but all Levi could think was, _this is the end, _as pain consumed him and he fell into darkness.

**~o)0(0~**

"Get them into the ER!"

"The girl needs surgery, stat!"

"We need a blood transfusion over here! Type A+!"

Levi's mind barely processed this as he stared at the blurred objects floating over him in a daze. Voices were surrounding him, pressing in as they shouted, suffocating. Where were Isabel and Farlan? Why weren't they here?

"We need to get his ICP down or else he'll need immediate surgery." The voice came from right above him, and Levi blinked a couple of times to try to focus his vision, only succeeding in making sharp daggers of pain drive into his skull over and over again.

"Wait, he's waking up!"

"It's going up!" Another voice called, and there was a rush of commotion around Levi and suddenly he was moving, away from the voices until there were only a few remaining surrounding him. The pressure in his head increased, and he slowly lost his grip on consciousness and spiraled into the dark.

**~o)0(o~**

"This one's bad," Erwin said, looking over the body of the young boy on the surgery table. He was hooked up to an IV feeding blood into his arm. There were gashes all over his torso, and shards of glass and metal were still imbedded in his stomach. When Erwin looked closely, he thought he could see the boy's intestines. He shuddered a little and snapped authoritatively. "Identification?"

"Farlan Church, age 20, male," Mike said from behind him.

"Alright, get to work," Erwin said, "Make sure you get all the shards out. We have to be careful with his stomach open like that."

The team nodded, and Erwin left the room as they pulled masks over their faces and got to work. The car crash had been terrible. The other car, filled with drunken gang members of the notorious group that called themselves the "Titans" had slammed into the car of the three people currently in surgery. Most of the Titans had been killed, a few had sustained minor injuries, and the rest were currently spending the night in jail.

The girl, Isabel, was definitely in the worst shape; her whole torso had been crushed, breaking all her ribs and one of them puncturing a lung. The other boy, Levi, had severely high ICP that had to be brought down quickly or he'd probably die. And Farlan's entire torso had been torn up by flying shrapnel.

Isabel and Farlan were the least likely to survive, because their injuries were more severe than the broken leg and brain swelling Levi had suffered. However, the brain swelling could be a serious problem later on…they'd probably have to keep him under watch for a while before they could let him go. A small smile grew on Erwin's face. If Levi did survive, he knew just where to put him.

Suddenly, there was the sudden flatlining of a heart monitor, and shouting erupted from behind the closed doors. The doctor turned around and burst back into the room. It was chaos; doctors and nurses were running around. Several of them were trying to use the defibrillator to bring Farlan back to life, but Erwin could tell it wasn't working. Mike bowed his head and reported solemnly, "Patient: Farlan Church. Time of death: 2:04 a.m."

* * *

><p><strong>BTW, ICP stands for inter-cranial pressure, and I got all of this medical stuff of the Internet, so IDK if it's reliable but whatever.<strong>


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: You know what, screw it. I'm updating every day from now on. Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own SNK or any of its characters**

* * *

><p><strong>~Chapter One~<strong>

Levi groaned in pain as he slowly returned to consciousness. His head ached in pain, and he felt like he had the world's worst hangover, only he hadn't had any alcohol. He tried opening his eyes, and then immediately closed them again as a painfully dazzling light hit his eyes.

"Hi!" An overly-bright voice said from right next to him. "Sorry about the light, I didn't expect you to wake up so early!"

"Whaa?" Levi mumbled unintelligibly, risking opening his eyes again. Thankfully, the light had dimmed, and he blinked a couple of times to adjust to the dimness. He turned to look at the person next to him. It was a brown-haired girl wearing glasses and blue nurse scrubs, adjusting some sort of complicated-looking machine. She had a crazy smile on her face and Levi was a little disturbed by it.

"I'm Hanji Zoe, but you can call me Hanji of course. I'm one of the nurses who will be monitoring you!" She said brightly.

"Monitoring me? What the hell?" Levi asked, trying to sit up and gasping in pain as suddenly his vision tripled and then went back to normal.

A expression of concern crossed Hanji's face, and she quickly asked, "You remember, right? The car crash? The doctors couldn't tell what parts of your brain might be damaged without taking an MRI, and in your state that was too difficult and dangerous, so they decided to wait until you woke up—"

"Okay, okay," Levi held his hands up for silence and contemplated her words for a second. Car crash… Then it all came back to him in a rush. The other car careening around the corner, Isabel's scream, that horrible sound of metal crunching metal…

"Where are my friends? Are they okay?" He demanded, watching Hanji's face carefully. In a split second the emotions of confusion, horror, sadness, and empathy crossed her face, and a dreaded feeling stirred in the pit of Levi's stomach.

"Alright, well…I won't sugarcoat this for you, okay? I'm sorry, though. I'm really sorry." She took a deep breath. "Your friend Farlan died a week ago, and Isabel and you have been in comas ever since…only, Isabel's chance of waking up isn't that great." She took another breath, this one a little more broken. "I'm so sorry."

Levi didn't respond. All he knew that his friends were what grounded him, and now that he didn't have that, he was falling. It was like the floor had been taken out from under his feet and he was free-falling into the depths of despair and darkness because oh God, how could he survive without them, he couldn't…

"Are you alright?" Hanji asked him. Suddenly, holding back tears, he snapped up to face her, gray eyes simmering with anger. "Do I _look _alright? My best friends are dead!" He yelled angrily. She didn't shrink back like most people did when Levi got angry, but she still didn't look happy. "I'm going to go get a doctor, tell them you're awake," she said, happiness now subdued.

She left quietly, letting Levi drown himself in his thoughts. It was all his fault. It had been his idea to go to the party. They'd never have been in that car if it wasn't for him…

A blond man with thick caterpillar eyebrows entered the room, watching Levi for a moment.

"What are you looking at?" Levi snapped at him, irritation simmering to the surface.

The man shook his head. "Nothing. I just wanted to tell you a few things."

"Okay, so?" Levi couldn't help the pure disdain in his voice.

"You'll be staying here for a few weeks so we can monitor your brain to make sure the severe swelling you suffered because of the crash doesn't cause any permanent damage, but we'll start the testing tomorrow to give you some time to adjust. And there's one more thing." The man paused, like he was reluctant to give up the information. "You'll be sharing this room with another boy. His name is Eren Jaeger."

Levi snapped up to stare at the man in shock, then looked around the room for the first time, only now noticing the other bed pushed up against the far wall, surrounded by a messy pile of belongings. Drawings were tacked up on the wall at random, clothes were scattered on the floor, and books were piled on the bed. Despite the seriousness of the situation, Levi couldn't help but sneer a little at the mess. Still, they were going to make him stay here _and _share the room with someone else? Unfair.

"Fine," he mumbled sourly. "But can I see Isabel?"

The man hesitated, then nodded. "But I'm warning you, it won't be pretty," he said reluctantly. "My name is Erwin Smith, by the way. I'm the doctor in charge of your case."

Levi nodded, then swung his legs over the side of the bed, careful with the chunk of plaster attached to his left leg that he was only just noticing now. Erwin handed him a pair of crutches, and Levi awkwardly swung them around until they were positioned correctly under his arms, then followed the taller man down the hallway. Isabel's room wasn't far from his, and Erwin opened the door for him, but didn't follow him inside. "I'll give you two some privacy," he said in that annoyingly knowing adult voice, but Levi just nodded at him and swung inside. He made his way over to the chair positioned next to Isabel's bed and looked down at his friend. She was a mess; there were bruises and cuts all over her exposed skin, and her chest was wrapped in bandages but it just looked so…wrong, like there was something weird about the way she looked. He couldn't stop a tear from falling from his eye, and it was then followed by another, and another. He sat down heavily on the chair, dropping his crutches and putting his head in his hands as he thought about his friends and cried.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: BTW, I changed the ages around in this fic, so Levi's age is much closer to Eren's. Levi is a sophomore in college and Eren is a sophomore in high school. Just wanted to make sure that wasn't too confusing.**


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: Yesss Eren in this chapter FINALLY took me long enough**

**Disclaimer: I don't own SNK or its characters.**

* * *

><p><strong>~Chapter Two~<strong>

Levi didn't even get to meet his aforementioned roommate until the next night. The entirety of the next day was filled with doctors and neurologists examining his brain and asking him stupid questions and taking a dozen MRIs and CT scans. When he got back to his room, it was already dark and there was a misshapen lump in the bed farthest from the door. Levi looked at his roommate's peacefully sleeping form, then quickly undressed, put on his pajamas, and climbed into his own bed. Exhaustion instantly overwhelmed him and he fell asleep quickly.

**~o)0(o~**

"_You killed us!" _Isabel shouted at him, the pretty clothes she'd worn to the party ripped and torn as blood seeped from the many wounds on her petite body. Her torso was crushed, almost flat, and it was horribly warped and disturbing to see the normally pretty girl look so damaged.

"Murderer!" Farlan was next. Levi hadn't actually seen his wounds, but the broken boy in his dreams resembled a bloody, ripped-apart puppet. It was terrifying seeing his friends like this. Levi's eyes filled with tears of fear and sadness.

"_This is all your fault!"_

"_Why do you get to live when we have to die?" _

"I'm sorry—I'm sorry—" Levi gasped out, staring horrified at the torn corpses of his friends. "I never meant for this to happen—"

"_You killed us!_" Isabel shrieked again, heedless of his words. "Murderer! Murderer! Murderer!"

The mantra continued on until Levi felt something warm grasp his shoulder and he swung out blindly, eyes flying open in a panic as he did so. He heard someone shout in pain and then there was a crash as they fell to the floor.

"What?" He asked dumbly as he stared at the person on the floor. It was a boy, tall and lean, with a wild mop of brown hair, slowly picking himself up from the floor with one hand as the other grasped the eye that Levi had punched.

"Ow, you jerk! What was that for?" The boy shouted angrily, glaring at Levi with fiery green eyes. Levi couldn't stop himself from staring for a moment but quickly gathered himself and retorted quickly, "Well, why were you watching me sleep?"

Eren gaped at him for a second. "I wasn't watching you sleep! You were having a nightmare and I woke you up!" He said indignantly. "I was only trying to help!"

"Well, look where that got you," Levi muttered sourly.

Eren huffed in annoyance. He was bleeding a little from where Levi's nails had scraped him, and Levi only felt slightly guilty about the dark purple bruise blossoming on the other boy's cheek.

"You might want to get some ice for that," He pointed out. Eren glared at him again and marched back to his side of the room like an angry child. Levi couldn't help but laugh at the boy's petulant actions.

"What're you laughing at?" Eren snapped, but he looked like he wasn't so much angry as he was amused now. He sat down on his bed, pushing a pair of jeans onto the floor as he did so. Levi glared a little at the mess.

"Why are you in here, anyways?" He asked, changing the subject abruptly.

Eren looked a little surprised at the sudden switch of topics, but he answered vaguely, "Heart problems. What about you?"

Levi was kind of annoyed at the vagueness of the other boy's answer, but he responded anyways, "I was in a car crash and hit my head, so now they want to keep an eye on my brain." He rolled his eyes melodramatically and Eren giggled. "I saw Hanji was in here earlier. She was my nurse when I first came. You poor soul."

Levi was about to laugh at Eren's joke, but then he remembered Isabel, and this was all too similar to their easy banter before the crash. He immediately closed off, wiping his face of all expressions. He saw Eren's look of confusion, but didn't make a move to continue the conversation.

"It's nice to have a roommate, though," the younger boy added slightly awkwardly. "It gets kind of lonely here and Mikasa and Armin can only visit so often, and Jean is so mean and grumpy whenever he's not with Marco. We might have gotten off to a bad start, but maybe we can be friends?" The hopeful glimmer in Eren's eyes made Levi want to say yes, definitely yes, but then he remembered Isabel and Farlan. Gone, because of him. Everyone would just be better off if he was alone. Then nobody would get hurt. Nobody would _die. _

"No thanks," Levi said coldly, lying down and turning on his side to face away from Eren so he couldn't see the hurt look on his roommate's face.

**~o)0(o~**

The next day, Levi got to learn the extent of Eren's "heart problems".

After waking up the morning after their conversation, Eren was lying in his bed, sketching. He immediately shifted so Levi couldn't see his sketch pad once he saw the older boy was awake and continued drawing, pointedly ignoring his roommate.

But that was okay, because Levi didn't even get to stay in the room for that much longer. Hanji came to take him to do some routine tests which only took a few hours, then he went to visit Isabel and talk to her motionless body about his awkward encounter last night. There was still no response from her, and he let out a few excess tears before grabbing his crutches and limping out. It seemed that her room was now the only place where he could cry in private.

When he got back to his own room, Eren was still there, only now he was talking quietly with a dark-haired girl wearing a red scarf. She was featured in one of the drawings on his wall, so Levi immediately assumed she was his girlfriend and went straight to his own bed. His uncle had brought some of his things from home, including his old computer, so he went straight to writing to let out a few of his emotions.

When dark-haired girl left, Eren sighed and shifted back onto his bed, picking up his sketchpad again. A few seconds later Levi could sense a pair of eyes on him, but when he looked over to Eren the boy's head was bent over his drawing, a light blush on his cheeks.

This continued on for thirty more minutes—the constant game of Eren looking at Levi then Levi trying catch Eren looking at him and ending up looking at Eren himself—before Levi had had enough. He closed his computer and walked over to Eren's bed. The younger boy let out an undignified squeak of surprise before hurriedly flipping through his sketchpad to a drawing of a pretty woman with a side ponytail.

"Who's that?" Levi asked, and Eren glanced down at the drawing as if noticing it for the first time.

"Umm…" The younger boy stammered, "That's my mom."

Levi nodded. "She's pretty. You're a great artist, brat."

Eren turned a dark red and Levi felt a hint of a blush at his own cheeks. "Thanks," the younger boy mumbled. Then apparently he remembered his anger from earlier and said, "I thought we weren't going to be friends!"

"We're not!" Levi defended himself.

"Well that's what a friend would say!"

"No it's not! Anyone could say that!"

"No they wouldn't!"

"Fine, do you want me to take it back then?"

"No!" Eren yelped, hugging his sketchpad like Levi was about to steal it from him. "No…never mind…um, sorry, whatever."

Levi searched his mind to quickly change the subject and asked, "So, what's your mom like?"

Immediately Eren stiffened. His whole body went rigid and suddenly his breathing turned erratic, coming out in spontaneous bursts.

"Oi, brat, are you okay?" Levi asked, suddenly filled with concern. The younger boy dropped his sketchpad and clutched at his chest, trying hard to suck in air.

"In…haler," the other boy managed, and Levi looked around frantically, searching for one nearby. He rooted through the mess on the floor, sorting through the clothes in a panicked way before he finally felt something hard and grabbed it. He held the inhaler up to Eren's mouth and gave him a quick puff.

At that moment, a young ginger-haired nurse came running in, her amber eyes wide with panic. "Eren!" She yelped. "You had another attack?" She pressed a button on her pager and spoke into it quickly. Only a few moments later, doctors and nurses flooded the room, pushing Levi out of the way and surrounding the younger boy. Within moments Levi found himself alone in the room with only Erwin, watching him carefully.

"What was that?" Levi finally managed.

"Eren has heart problems," Erwin started. Levi looked annoyed and was about to interrupt him when Erwin continued. "He was born with a rather large hole in his heart, one that couldn't simply be fixed by a surgery, but after a few years of keeping an eye on it we decided it was nothing to worry about. Then his house burned down. He inhaled large amounts of smoke, which irritated the hole and made it larger. He had to take medication to keep his heart from failing on him. His mother died in the fire and his father disappeared, so now he and his sister Mikasa live with their friend Armin and his grandfather, but only a few months ago, Eren started having really bad attacks, sometimes caused by his heart, sometimes caused by anxiety, that put him in severe danger of dying even faster. Now he's on the list for a new heart, only his family doesn't have much money so he's at the bottom. And now…he only has a few months left, at most a year, before his heart just…gives out." Erwin shrugged defeatedly. "Now all we can do is make sure he at least goes in peace."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Do I have any idea how a pager works? No, I don't. So if I said something wrong, please don't flame me or anything. I'm just too lazy to go look it up.**


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: I just really love the idea of artist!Eren and writer!Levi so you will be seeing that throughout the rest of the story. Aww, and this chapter is really cute...except for the cliffhanger at the end, but whatever ;)**

**Disclaimer: Still don't own Eren or Levi or any of the other characters... *sighs sadly***

* * *

><p><strong>~Chapter Three~<strong>

When Eren woke up, his chest felt like someone had driven nails through it. It hurt to breathe, and the air rasped in his throat painfully. He was back in his bed in the room he and Levi shared, hooked up to a heart monitor and IV. He carefully kept the IV in and turned off the heart monitor, then looked over to his roommate's bed. It must have been late, because Levi was asleep, his front facing Eren. He studied the older boy's normally stoic features relaxed in sleep, unlike last night when his face had been twisted in fear. Eren definitely liked this version of Levi better, and he carefully got out his sketchbook and pencil and started with the outline of Levi's sleeping body. Pleased with the way it came out, he continued to add detail to the drawing until light started to shine through the window and Eren was staring down at a nearly-completed drawing of Levi sleeping. God, he thought, mortified. This is so stalkerish. He's not even my friend.

Eren flipped back through the sketchbook to the drawing he'd been making of Levi earlier, head bent down over his computer and face scrunched up in concentration. The two drawings were both two of his better pieces, and he liked the way the light shone on Levi's face to cast half in shadow, the other in light.

He wished they could be friends—_or maybe a little more then friends, _said a small voice in his head—but the other boy had made it clear that wasn't going to happen. Eren let out a small sigh of resignation, then leaned over to the nightstand to take some of his medication. He stared at the small pill bottle in frustration.

Yesterday had been his first attack in ages. Earlier he'd been talking to Mikasa about possibly going home and seeing how that might work out, but now that was off the table because the attack would ensure that the doctors wouldn't let him out of their sight for a while.

A small, secret part of him was slightly glad that he wouldn't have to leave Levi just yet. The other boy was rude, and he had been mean to Eren, but he couldn't help but continue to like it. Now he finally realized how those people in cheesy romantic chick flicks felt about their crushes.

No. Levi wasn't a _crush. _He was a broken boy, like Eren, and a possible friend.

Eren definitely needed more of those. He had Mikasa, Armin, Sasha, Connie, Christa, and he was kind of friends with Jean, because Marco insisted that Jean be nice to him. He guessed that didn't really count as "friends". But still, he didn't have as many friends as he would like.

Just then, Levi stirred in his sleep and started to wake up. Eren immediately picked up a book and pretended to be reading, sneaking glances at the older boy every few seconds.

Levi woke up slowly, and one of his first actions was to glance over at Eren's side of the room, then look away quickly. Only today he quickly looked back and gaped at Eren.

"You're back," he said in a surprised tone. He moved over to sit next to the younger boy. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Eren said, surprised and touched by his concern. "Those don't happen very often. You were just unfortunate enough to witness one." He tried to joke to lighten the mood, but Levi was still looking at him oddly, like he knew something that he wished he didn't. Eren tried to ignore the burning gaze on him and instead studied the book in his hands like he was extremely interesting.

"Hey, can I see what you were drawing yesterday?" Levi asked suddenly. "Your art is amazing."

"Only if I get to see what you were writing," Eren retorted quickly. Levi looked shocked at the boy's quick response, then blushed. He didn't want Eren to see what he'd spent hours writing yesterday, adding in new characters and taking out old ones, crying a little, and pining after the green-eyed teenager.

Besides, what he'd been writing…no. It was totally embarrassing.

"But that's different," Levi protested.

"No writing, no art," Eren smiled victoriously, knowing he'd won.

"Fine," Levi grumbled, going back to his perfectly made bed and picking the laptop up from the bedside table. He walked back to Eren, opened the computer, then messed around a little bit before finding the right document and handing the laptop to the younger boy, who blushed a little because now Levi was going to see those painstakingly detailed drawings of himself and their relationship would be ruined and…Eren forced himself to stop thinking about that and instead focused on the computer in front of him. The format of the pages was organized neatly and it was easy to read, and Eren dove in immediately. He was captivated by the interesting backstory Levi came up with, and then Levi's story about living as a thug in the Underground with his friends Farlan and Isabel until they were captured by the Survey Corps, and then characters entered that Eren knew. Erwin was there, and Hanji, and a few other nurses and doctors that Eren recognized. And then he saw his own name, and his eyes widened in surprise before he blushed as he read about his character—the strong, determined Titan Shifter. The story was long, and he only got part way through before Levi cleared his throat. Then Eren remembered what Levi was looking at and turned firetruck red.

"Umm…sorry if it's stalkerish or anything, but I woke up earlier and there wasn't anything to do and you just looked so peaceful…" he started to rant worriedly, but Levi held up a hand to silence him. He was studying the drawing of himself sleeping, and his awestruck look was enough to keep Eren quiet while he stared at the other boy anxiously, waiting for his reaction.

"This is so beautiful," Levi whispered. "Can I keep it?"

"What?" Eren asked, dumbstruck. Levi…liked it?

"Can I keep it?" Levi repeated, raising an eyebrow in irritation at Eren, who blushed again and nodded vigorously. "Sure, sure."

The older boy painstakingly ripped the drawing out of Eren's sketchbook, making sure not to tear or smudge it in any way. Eren smiled happily, and Levi looked back at him, a small smile gracing his lips as well. Eren almost gasped in surprise; it was the first time he had seen Levi smile since he got to the hospital, and the expression on the boy's face was amazing. Eren blushed again as he realized he was staring. He was doing a lot of that lately; it would be a miracle if his face wasn't permanently stained pink.

"I love your story," he said, trying to find a way to fill the silence. "It's amazing. You should write more." He handed Levi's computer back in exchange for his sketchbook, and this time it was Levi's turn to blush.

"Eh…it's stupid. It was just something random I came up with yesterday, and it's not my best…"

"Your best must really be something, then," Eren complimented, feeling a little pink as the smile returned to Levi's face.

"Thank you," the older boy said. They sat there together for a moment, a comfortable silence between them, before Eren suddenly said, "Hey, have you seen the Avengers?"

"What?" Levi asked.

"The Avengers," Eren said, and at Levi's confused look, he rolled his eyes. "You have to see this one. It's probably the best superhero film in—"

He was suddenly interrupted by a commotion in the hallway as it filled with frantic shouts, and a stampede of doctors and nurses ran past, down towards one of the other rooms. Erwin ran past their room, then backtracked quickly and came inside.

"Levi," he said, "It's Isabel. Her heart stopped."


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: I really love this chapter omg *squeals***

**Disclaimer: I don't own Eren or Levi or any of them...*cries***

* * *

><p><strong>~Chapter Four~<strong>

Levi's world was dark and torn apart. He had lost both of his best friends, he was stuck in the hospital, and things looked bleak and hopeless.

And then Eren came into his life, a beacon of hope and light. He made things better, and despite how much Levi wanted to push him away he kept on coming back. Things were looking up and Levi was actually _happy_ again.

But now Isabel was dying, the last remnant of his friends was disappearing, and it was as if he hadn't even left the darkness in the first place, and now he was plunging in even deeper.

He ran after Erwin blindly, his movements not being controlled by his brain, only his desperate need to get to Isabel.

She had to hold on. For him.

He knew it was selfish, but he didn't feel like he could live in a world without her. He and Eren could never be more then friends, if the other boy even wanted to be friends in the first place.

Tears filled Levi's gray eyes when he arrive at her room. She was surrounded by doctors and nurses, one of them holding a defibrillator. Another one yelled "Clear!" and they tried to jumpstart her heart, but it didn't work. The line on the heart monitor remained flat.

Levi was vaguely aware of a warmth next to him, and then a hand slipping into his own and grasping it tightly, like an anchor. Levi glanced over to see Eren next to him, his normally passionate green eyes filled with sadness and empathy.

He squeezed back. A look of surprise crossed Eren's face as he glanced down at their joined hands then back up at Levi's face. But the older boy was back to staring at his friend's motionless body. A doctor proclaimed sadly, "Isabel Magnolia. Time of death: 10:52 a.m."

Levi choked back a sob and ran out of the room, dragging Eren with him. The taller boy easily kept up by using his long legs, but they were back at their own room far too soon and Levi collapsed on his bed, struggling to fight back tears. He didn't want to cry in front of Eren. He couldn't. He already showed enough weakness by running in the first place.

"Hey," Eren said, and Levi was suddenly afraid the younger boy was going to mock him for being weak or something like that. "I know how you feel." Okay, he wasn't expecting that.

"When I was 13, there was a big fire. This gang that called themselves the Titans decided it would be fun to play a prank on me like they do at school, only on a major level. I don't think they meant for anyone to die, but my mom did…and my heart, I have this thing that was hurt by the smoke and now…" Eren sighed, not elaborating even though Levi actually knew the story. "That's why I'm here. Anyways, my mom died because of them, and it was the worst feeling in the world, being so helpless while she was in so much pain…" He clenched a fist in anger. "I know how you feel. And if you…I don't know…ever want to talk about it, I guess, I'll listen."

Levi smiled gratefully at him. He looked at the fiery passion in the other boy's eyes and saw something else there, something more beautiful and open then what he'd seen before. He blinked a little, surprised at the sudden change he saw in the boy, but smiled even wider when he realized the Eren in front of him was even more amazing than the Eren he'd first met.

"How about that movie?" He tried, wiping at his eyes.

Eren's smile was as radiant as the sun. He ran to his side of the room and rooted through his things, finally pulling out a battered DVD case. He carefully removed the disc, put it in the player, and turned on the TV. After messing with the settings a little, the movie finally started to play.

Eren was immediately taken into the action onscreen. There was a smile in his eyes as he laughed at Tony Stark's sassy comments and Natasha Romanoff's badass-ery. But Levi was only half-paying attention to the movie; instead, he was studying the boy in front of him, the boy who'd forced himself into his life only a couple nights ago, the boy who was hopelessly damaged and might only have a year left to live, and the boy who he was starting to love. It was slightly insane, and Farlan and Isabel might laugh at him, ("You've only known him for a little while!" "Seriously, Levi?" "That's so romantic!") but Levi was slowly and surely falling in love with Eren Jaeger. The boy's smiles, his eyes, his drawings, and that _goddamn _blush, it filled him with a warm feeling all the way down to his core.

Still, he was filled with doubts. His uncle didn't care for him. The only bright spots in his life had been Farlan and Isabel, and now they were both dead. He didn't want anything to happen to Eren either. He knew he was setting himself up for another tragedy, falling in love with this boy—Erwin had said it himself, he would be dead within the year if he didn't get a transplant, and even that was a risky move.

Levi tried not to think about it. There were so many factors working against them being together, so many things keeping them apart, but he couldn't help but fall in love with Eren. There. It was out there, in the open.

_He was in love with Eren Jaeger. _

"I'm in love with Eren Jaeger," he muttered to himself, then froze, because _holy shit he just said that out loud._

"_What?" _Eren asked, eyes wide as he turned to face Levi, the movie completely forgotten. "Did you just say you were in love with me?!"

"Jeez, have to rub it in, do you?" Levi snarked, red with embarrassment.

Eren's eyes lit up. "Seriously?! You're not joking, right? Because that would be really mean, I mean, I like you too, so it would be kinda mean to joke about that but—"

"Shut up," Levi growled, and leaned forwards to press his lips against Eren's. The other boy froze, shocked, before kissing back hungrily. Levi fisted his hands in Eren's hair and the younger boy put his hands on Levi's shoulders as they passionately kissed.

"That was not what I was expecting," Eren whispered when they finally stopped to catch their breath.

"Better or worse?" Levi asked.

"Definitely better," Eren nodded, his eyes sparkling with excitement and passion. Levi leaned in for another kiss, and the other boy complied, tilting his head down to press his lips against Levi's. They stayed like that until the scene where the Hulk got loose in the Helicarrier, when Eren finally broke away.

"So, does this mean we're dating?"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I dId ThE ThiNg :D :D **

**What do you think? Please review**


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: I'M SO OBSESSED WITH SOUL EATER RIGHT NOW I CAN'T EVEN...A DEATH THE KID FANFICTION WILL PROBABLY BE THE NEXT ONE I POST BUT IDK...I just really need help...**

**Disclaimer: I don't own SNK. You don't need to rub it in...**

* * *

><p><strong>~Chapter Five~<strong>

"Ha! I was right! Hand over the money, Petra!"

"Hey, no fair! I don't get as much time watching them as you do, it's not a fair bet—"

"Well then you shouldn't have made it! Pay up!"

The two boys woke up to the sound of Hanji cackling and then the snap of a phone camera and a sigh. "Hanji, you know they're going to kill you for that…"

"Whaaa?" Eren mumbled intelligently as he slowly returned to the waking world. Then he realized where he was and shot awake, mortified. The Avengers was on pause on the TV, and he was curled up on Levi's bed, snuggling against the smaller boy, who had an arm wrapped around him from behind while Eren was pressed up against his chest. The two nurses were still arguing.

"It doesn't make any sense for him to be the little spoon, he's so much taller than Levi!" Petra was arguing.

"I told yoouuuu, Levi's the dominant one," Hanji sang, and Eren's eyes widened and he gaped at her in surprise. "Wh—what?"

"Uh-oh, Hanji, I think you broke him," Petra said nervously as she looked at Eren's shocked expression.

"You made bets on which one of us was dominant?" Eren asked incredulously. Levi stirred against him, waking up.

"Well, not exactly…" Petra fidgeted.

"It was in the name of science!" Hanji announced dramatically.

"Hnngh…science?" Levi mumbled sleepily, and Petra, Hanji, and Eren dissolved into fits of laughter.

Levi sat up, rubbing at his eyes sleepily and fixing his clothes that he had worn the day before. Instantly he was hit with all the pain and agony he'd felt over Isabel and Farlan's deaths—_why did they have to die and not him?—_but then he remembered what he and Eren had done, and a smile spread across his features.

Hanji gasped. "Levi smiled!"

Petra mimicked her gasp, and Eren laughed at them. Then Hanji turned to Levi with a more serious expression on her face. "You, with me. We need to do a couple more CT scans today and a specialist is coming in to look at you."

Levi nodded, and Eren gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before the older boy followed Hanji out of the room. Petra stayed behind, a hand on Eren's wrist as she took his pulse and checked him over.

"How are you feeling today?" She asked him in a friendly way as she looked over his heart monitor. "Any attacks coming on?"

Eren shook his head. "No, I'm actually feeling pretty good. _Really _good."

Petra smiled at him. "That's amazing. Remember to take your medication—and we're doing another scan today. You were just bumped up a place on the transplant list, and they want to make sure your body's okay before giving you a new heart."

Eren's smile was huge. "Really?!"

Petra nodded, returning his smile with an even more enthusiastic one. "We just have to make sure you're in peak condition, and what with the anniversary coming up…" She hated to remind him, but _someone _had to, and she tried to break it in the best possible way.

Eren sat back down on Levi's bed heavily, his breathing becoming erratic again. Petra recognized the signs immediately and gasped, amber eyes widening. "Eren! Eren, calm down. It's okay, you just have to calm down—"

He held up a hand to stop her. He could do this. He reached for his inhaler and took a deep puff of air, trying to steady his breaths. He thought of Levi pressed up against him, how their chests moved in synchronization. Up, down, up, down, in, out, inhale, exhale…

Eren felt himself calming down, slowly but surely. He pushed the memories of his mother, the burning house, and the screams away, to the back of his mind, and filled that place with thoughts of Levi—his smile, his kisses, his eyes…

Eren looked up at Petra, who was still frantic. "I did it!" He shouted happily. Her eyes filled with joy and she reached out for a hug, embracing the tall boy.

"That's good!" She agreed enthusiastically. "You're improving!"

"I'm improving!" He repeated, as if he couldn't believe it. He knew what Erwin thought; he knew that he didn't have much time left. But now, his meds were working. He was going to get a transplant. He could stop his panic attacks. And he was dating Levi. Things were looking up.

_He was getting better._

**~o)0(o~**

Levi grumbled in annoyance as he sat in the hard plastic waiting chair, next to Hanji who was bouncing excitedly, holding the results from the scans in her hands. They'd been sitting there for ten minutes, but she couldn't seem to be able to stop squealing every two. Levi groaned and put his head in his hands. Over the past couple of days he'd been improving; he got less dizzy spells, it was easier to walk, and his head didn't even hurt that much. He'd say they should let him go right now, only Hanji didn't think he should go so soon and leaving would mean he'd only get to see Eren sporadically.

Finally, Erwin came in and took the scans from Hanji, looking them over as his gigantic caterpillar eyebrows furrowed in concentration. Levi sat there patiently for another 3.05 seconds, then burst out, saying, "Well? What are you looking at?"

Erwin sighed and showed him the scans. To him, the highlighted areas and the different colors and numbers and words didn't mean anything, but to Erwin it was as familiar as his own language.

"This looks fine," he said. "There isn't much swelling, your ICP is almost at a normal level, and I can't detect anything else that might be wrong. It looks almost normal. A few more days of remaining on medication, and you might be able to go home."

Levi's heart sank. He didn't want anything to be wrong with him, but he wanted to stay with Eren as well.

"Of course," Erwin added, sensing Levi's internal struggle, "We might want to keep an eye on that leg of yours as well. It was a bad break."

Levi looked at the man gratefully, knowing that there really wasn't any reason to keep him because of his leg, but Erwin was making an exception anyways.

"Can I go, then?" He asked, standing up.

Erwin nodded, then added quickly, "If you break his heart I'll break your bones." Apparently everyone in the hospital had adopted a maternal feeling towards Eren. Levi sighed in annoyance—why would he ever break Eren's heart?—and left.

When he got back to his room, a blond-haired boy, one of the ones from Eren's drawings, was there, talking excitedly to Eren. Levi sent him a little glare and sat down on his bed with his computer, fully ready to ignore them for the rest of the afternoon.

Eren, of course, was not going to let that happen.

"Levi, come here!" He called happily, beckoning the older boy over to his bed to sit next to Armin.

"What do you want, brat?" Levi sighed in annoyance. He was so close to finishing his chapter…

"Oh, I thought you would want to meet Armin," Eren said, a little hurt creeping into his voice. Levi looked over and saw Eren giving him the puppy-dog eyes, and who could resist those on such a cute face…? He sighed again, closed his computer, and went over to sit next to the two boys. Armin looked at him nervously as if he expected Levi to viciously attack him any second now.

Eren was oblivious to the tension. "Levi, this is Armin, my best friend. Armin, this is Levi. He's my boyfriend."

Armin's jaw dropped. "You have a boyfriend?! Mikasa is going to kill you!"

"Who's Mikasa?" Levi interrupted, trying to keep emotion out of his voice. If Eren was cheating on him, he didn't know what he'd do…

"Mikasa is my older sister," Eren explained. "She was in here yesterday, remember? She always wears a red scarf."

Levi nodded, relaxing. "So why would she kill you?"

Eren rolled his eyes. "Overprotective. But it's more like she'd kill you. Not me. I'm too lovable."

"Ohh, you know that's true…"

"Eww, spare me the lovey-dovey stuff!" Armin squealed, covering his eyes. Levi pecked Eren on the lips quickly then laughed at the blond-haired boy's horrified reaction.

Eren's eyes suddenly brightened with excitement. "Oh! There's something I have to tell both of you! Guess what Petra said today?!"

"What?" Armin asked eagerly.

"Apparently I was bumped up a place on the list for a heart, so I might get one sooner than expected! And now I can mostly control my attacks!" Eren proclaimed.

Armin squealed again, throwing his arms around his friend, who laughed at his reaction. When Armin pulled away, he was wiping at the tears flowing from his large blue eyes. "That's amazing!" He shouted happily.

Levi was speechless. Erwin had said Eren had a year or less left to live, and by loving him Levi was sure to get his heart broken again. But now Eren was getting better, he was getting better, and everything was going to be alright.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Don't you just hate it when everything seems like it's going to turn out fine but there's still several chapters left in the story...? *laughs evilly***


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N: WARNING-there is smut at the end of the chapter but if you want to skip over that part it's at the very end in a giant paragraph but I'll put a warning in front of the paragraph just in case you don't see it...hehehehehe...also it's my first time writing it so be warned if it's terrible...sorry.**

**Disclaimer: Miraculously, overnight I have murdered the owners and writers of SNK and taken control of the show! MWHAHAHA! ...no jk still don't own it. *sighs***

* * *

><p><strong>~Chapter Six~<strong>

"Armin told me about your relationship!" Mikasa proclaimed as she marched into their room the day after the blond-haired boy's visit. Eren looked up from the drawing he was making of Levi, who was sprawled out on Eren's bed reading a book. When Eren's older sister entered, he looked up with a bored expression and went back to reading.

"Why didn't you tell me?!" Mikasa asked in annoyance. "And your attacks? You can control them now?"

Eren nodded happily as he carefully detailed a piece of Levi's hair. "Yeah! I figured it out yesterday!"

Mikasa ran over and hugged him. "When you come home I'm going to have Armin make all your favorite foods and stuff you so full you throw everything up!" She turned to Levi and her smile dimmed. "You can come too."

"Pass," he drawled and returned back to his book. Eren giggled at the expression on his sister's face and then coughed awkwardly when she turned her glare on him.

"Well, I'm going to get coffee," she said. "Be right back." She walked out towards the hall, but stopped in their doorway and glared suspiciously at Levi. "Don't do anything while I'm gone."

She left, and Eren burst into laughter. A smile crossed Levi's face. "Is she always like that?"

"Most of the time," the green-eyed boy responded, falling into another fit of giggles.

A few minutes later, Eren was biting his lip, carefully shading Levi's eyes with his pencil. Levi was still immersed deeply in his book when Mikasa barged back into the room, letting the door hit the wall with a loud bang.

"I knew it! You two are having sex!" She announced proudly.

Levi glanced at Eren, who looked surprised. "Really? Eren, why didn't you tell me? I would've put my book down," he said in a deadpan.

Eren laughed. "You didn't even get coffee!" He said to his sister. "Were you waiting outside the whole time?"

"You should be careful, Eren, sex could be very stressful on your heart," she lectured, ignoring his question. The younger boy facepalmed and Levi stifled a laugh.

"And what's wrong with you, anyways?" She asked, turning to him. "Why are you here?"

Levi tapped the side of his head. "Car crash. Hit my head."

Mikasa frowned at him. "Break my brother's heart and I'll rip you apart myself."

"Mikasa, stoooopppp," Eren groaned.

"I think you'll have to get in line," Levi retorted. "You're maybe the sixth person to tell me that."

A small smile slipped across Mikasa's lips and Eren gasped in mock surprise. "She smiled!" He proclaimed dramatically. "The formidable witch has broken her barriers!"

"You're so weird," Mikasa scoffed at him, but he only smiled innocently back at her. "I'm going to leave, but I'll be back tomorrow—for, you know. I just want to make sure you're okay. The...anniversary...is in a few months."

Eren's posture visibly stiffened, and Mikasa was poised to grab for his inhaler, but he calmed down after a moment. "Okay. Sure. See you tomorrow."

Mikasa smiled at her little brother proudly, then left the room, sending Levi one last parting glare as she went.

"Tch," he said when she was out of earshot. "She really hates me."

"No, she's just frustrated because her usual method of intimidation didn't work," Eren replied easily.

"So, is it true that sex would be bad for your heart?" Levi asked, raising an eyebrow teasingly.

Eren turned bright red. "Um...I-I don't know-maybe Mikasa was...um...I d-don't know...why? Do you want to have sex with me?"

"What?!" It was Levi's turn to blush. "What I meant was—if you don't want to—"

Eren's grin was huge, and Levi blushed even darker when he saw it. "Oh, come here, you brat," he grumbled, pulling Eren closer and kissing him again. Eren returned the kiss eagerly, sliding his hands under Levi's shirt and letting his fingers travel up and down the older boy's back. Levi shivered at the touch and moved from Eren's mouth to his neck, nibbling on the soft skin. Eren let out a moan of pleasure and lifted Levi's shirt off his back and over his head, then had to stop for a moment to admire the other boy's goddamn _muscles._

**_(Starts here)_**

"Eren, you're staring," Levi smirked, and was immediately turned on as the younger boy blushed again. He tugged at Eren's shirt, waiting for permission, and when he nodded, Levi removed the article of clothing and only paused for a moment to admire Eren's abs before he attacked the other boy with kisses, licking up and down his torso. Eren shuddered with pleasure beneath him, then rolled them over so he was on top of Levi. He moved down the older boy's torso with his mouth until he stopped at one of his nipples and slowly caressed it with his tongue, feeling it harden beneath his touch. Smirking, he did it again and Levi barely suppressed a moan. Eren kept going, trailing all the way down until Levi's belly button as if asking for permission. With a short nod, the other boy quickly flipped them over so Eren was on the bottom and did the same, a smirk twisting his lips as Eren shuddered beneath his touch. With one hand, he unzipped Eren's pants and pushed them down while using the other to support himself on the bed. Levi pushed down the other boy's boxers and fisted his hard cock with one hand, rubbing it teasingly. Eren gasped with pleasure and fisted his hands in Levi's hair as he arched his back. "More...more—agh," he groaned as Levi licked up and down his shaft, all while rubbing it in his hands teasingly. "Fuck, Levi, I'm going to—"

**(_Ends here)_**

"Hey guys, I forgot my—HOLY FUCKING SHIT," Mikasa screamed as she came into the room, almost impaling herself on her car keys as she flailed around in shock. "Oh my god...I did not need to see that...OH MY GOD," she shouted as she turned and fled. They heard her shrieks as she ran down the hallway all the way from their room and despite the weirdness of the situation, they doubled over laughing.


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N: I JUST SAW BIG HERO 6 AND HOLY SHIT THAT WAS AN AMAZING MOVIE NO SPOILERS HERE BUT Y'ALL SHOULD TOTALLY GO AND WATCH IT!**

**Also thank you for all the reviews, although NanoWorker...I was a bit concerned by yours...but that's great for you anyways. Now, onto the disclaimer~**

**No, still don't own SNK or Eren or Levi or any of those little shits.**

* * *

><p><strong>~Chapter Seven~<strong>

Three days later, Levi was released from the hospital.

Eren was sad to see him go, but the older boy promised to come back and visit every day, so Levi's absence didn't seem so large anymore now that he had promised to come back.

Only, things didn't exactly work out like they planned. When Levi got home the first day, the state of the house he and his uncle shared was like a pigsty and he almost had a heart attack looking at it, so he spent the rest of the day cleaning until the house shone like a newly polished diamond. The cleaning helped to take Levi's mind off of everything that had happened; Farlan and Isabel's deaths, his short time spent in a coma, and the heart-wrenching despair he'd felt when Isabel's heart gave out. Well, cleaning took his mind off of almost everything. He couldn't seem to forget Eren.

The way the younger boy's green eyes sparkled whenever he got excited or happy, his soft brown hair, the way it felt so _right _whenever they were pressed up against each other, kissing passionately—he couldn't forget any of it. He spent most of his time cleaning in a half-dazed state, wandering around daydreaming about the boy he'd left behind in the hospital.

He was going back to visit the next day, but then something happened that neither of them had accounted for—school. Which Levi had missed a lot of. Also meaning that he had a shit-ton of homework that needed to be done. Finishing up your sophomore year of college with a brain injury and the loss of your two best friends was depressing to say the least, and the amount of classes Levi had missed made it even more so.

So Levi spent the next day sitting in lectures and taking notes and receiving huge packets of papers that he'd missed from every teacher he visited.

So he missed another day of visiting.

The next day was pretty much the same routine, only with more work and less listening. All Levi could think about was Eren. At least today was a Friday; if he got all his work done quickly, he could spend all day tomorrow and Sunday with Eren.

Only, he underestimated the amount of work he needed to get done, so for the first half of Saturday he sat in his room figuring out quadratic equations and writing essays on anglerfish.

When he finally arrived at the hospital, he was dead tired, but when he saw Eren all that exhaustion vanished. The first thing they did was hug, and then the next thing he knew they were kissing passionately.

"It's been so lonely here without you," Eren whispered breathlessly when they finally broke apart. "Jean's gone back to being grumpy because Marco has a huge project in school so he can't visit the hospital, and there's no one to talk to anymore. Mikasa won't even visit after what she saw."

Levi laughed a little at the last part, but turned serious again almost immediately. "I know, and I would've visited sooner, but school's being a bitch. But don't worry. I cleared the rest of my weekend schedule especially for you." He smiled at his lover and went in for another kiss, but Eren pushed him away. His green eyes were filled with worry.

"All of tomorrow they're prepping me for surgery," he said. He stared down at his hands, which were rubbing back and forth against each other like he had a nervous twitch. "I'm...scared, Levi. There's a large chance that the transplant might go wrong. Or that the new heart will reject me. My family is placing all their bets on this new heart; you have no idea how hard they've been working to try to pay for this thing. And...I just really don't want anything to go wrong." When he looked up at Levi again, his green eyes were filled with tears. Levi's heart nearly broke just from looking at his expression.

"Hey," he said gently, taking Eren's hands in his own and gently rubbing his thumbs over his palms. "Hey, it's going to be okay. You're so strong, you know that? You keep on fighting, no matter what. And you're going to fight to keep living, because we need you to. Mikasa, Armin, all those people who know you that I've never met, but I'm going to, I'm going to meet them because _you're _going to show them to me. They all need you to keep fighting, and so do I. You may be a brat, and I might be a jerk, but we need each other to keep on going. I love you, Eren Jaeger. And this is not a fight you're going to loose."

Eren's eyes filled with tears again, and he rushed forwards and slammed his lips into Levi's, the shock of the kiss electrifying them both. They held each other close as Eren cried, and they kissed, the younger boy's tears dripping off his nose and splashing onto Levi's cheeks.

"I love you too, Levi," he sobbed, throwing his arms around the older boy. "I love you, I love you, I love you…"

**~o)0(o~**

The next day, Levi didn't get to see Eren, but he waited anxiously in his room for the younger boy, sitting on Eren's bed and looking through his sketchbook or simply just writing more chapters of his book. Eren loved the story, and Levi was going to keep on writing and give it to him simply as a show of how much he loved him.

Eventually, Levi was so tired he just fell asleep in Eren's bed. When the other boy came back from surgery prep, he smiled softly at the sight of his boyfriend curled up in his bed, laptop still clutched in his hands. Gently Eren removed it from his fingers and set it down on the nightstand, then changed into sweatpants and climbed in next to him, letting himself be immersed in Levi's warmth for one last night.

**~o)0(o~**

In the morning, there were already doctors and nurses bustling around the room when the two boys woke up, Hanji among them.

"Good to see you back here, Levi!" She said brightly, and the boy groaned overdramatically.

"Eren, we're going to need you to change into this," Erwin said, handing the boy a hospital gown. Eren nodded and stood up, stretching as he did so and cracking his back.

"Don't do that, it's not good for you," Levi said lazily as he got up too, stretching like a cat and making a point out of _not _cracking his back.

Eren laughed, though his nerves showed in his eyes. He kissed Levi hurriedly, acting like it was his last time, before getting up to go change. While Levi waited for him to come back, Armin, an old man Levi didn't recognize, and Mikasa arrived. She pointedly ignored Levi, instead looking everywhere in the room except for at him.

When Eren came back, he was immediately suffocated in a tangle of bodies as the people in the room simultaneously dove in to hug him. Petra had tears in her eyes when she pulled away, and she hurriedly wiped at them, trying not to seem too emotional.

"I'm not going to be in the surgery room, but good luck, Eren," she said, wiping at her eyes. She gave him a quick hug. "Be strong. You can get through this."

He smiled at her and hugged back. "Thank you so much, Petra."

The older man, who turned out to be Armin's grandfather and apparently the man who had been taking care of Eren and Mikasa since their mother's death, was next, and he gave Eren a hug as well, making him promise to come out of this alive. Then Armin went, a couple other nurses, and finally Mikasa, who whispered something fiercely in his ear that made Eren go pale with his eyes widening in fear of whatever his older sister had said.

And then it was Levi's turn. "Remember what I told you," he said as he hugged Eren. "I love you."

"I love you too," Eren whispered back, pulling him in for one last kiss. "I'll see you soon."

He went over to the bed which the doctors would be wheeling him down to the surgery room in, and with a last glance over his shoulder at Levi, climbed in, giving them a thumbs-up. And as he was wheeled down the hallway away from them, Levi didn't like how much this felt like a goodbye.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Wow, that was kind of a depressing chapter and the cliffhanger didn't really help much...oh well, guess you'll have to live with it. I'll update again tomorrow! :D**


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N: *listens to Fallout Boy 24/7* oops**

**NanoWorker: Hehehe, I do that sometimes too, sorry for the misunderstanding...and thank you so much for your review! I'm glad you like the story! :D**

**ShouraiLink: Haha, you'll see... *evil laugh***

**Disclaimer: Don't own SNK or anything else except for the plot...meh...**

* * *

><p><strong>~Chapter Eight~<strong>

They waited anxiously for the results.

Armin, Mikasa, and Levi basically lived in the waiting room. They alternated shifts between sleeping, eating, and making coffee. At one point Armin was sent home to retrieve pillows and blankets so the trio could sleep more comfortably on the hard plastic chairs in the waiting room. Some passing doctors and nurses looked a little dubious with letting them stay, but every once in a while someone who'd attended to Eren or at least associated with him gave them a glare that said, _back off, _so no one tried to remove the three from their little den. People came by to say condolences ("He's not fucking dead, goddammit!") and Levi even got to meet the famous Jean Kirstein and his boyfriend Marco Bott, and he was admittedly not as bad as Eren made him out to be (although slightly annoying).

Finally, after what seemed like forever, even though it was only two days, Erwin came back to them with the results.

The surgery had worked.

Eren's new heart was working well, and with the medicine, he was slowly improving, although it would be impractical for him to have visitors right now. But now they could finally release the collective breath they had all been holding.

Eren was okay. He had survived. _He was okay._

Levi felt like he was on top of the world. His friends' death had sent him rocketing down towards depression, but now he was soaring above that. He was on cloud nine. Finally, something was going right in his life.

Erwin told them that Eren would have to stay in the hospital for recovery for another 1 to 2 weeks, and then he would have to spend another three months being monitored by a transplant team. Normally, that would be done at a heart transplant center, but after all Eren went through, they figured it would be okay to let the kid do it at home, since the house was pretty close to the hospital anyways. They would have to be extra careful about watching for signs of rejection, and the team would be taking regular tests (heart biopsies, EKGs, blood tests, etc), but after that and a few months of cardiac rehab, Eren would be in the clear.

The group was so excited they were practically bouncing on their feet. Mikasa shrieked with happiness and grabbed Armin in a fierce hug, and Levi was almost knocked over with the force of which she turned to him next. They quickly recovered though and broke apart almost immediately as if they couldn't stand being that close to each other.

"So, when will we be able to see him?" Armin asked eagerly.

Erwin's eyebrows furrowed. "Tomorrow, probably. He's still sleeping off the effects of the surgery and we don't want to put too much pressure on him because we're still watching for signs of rejection in the new heart. So probably only one visitor at a time, and no sex." He looked pointedly at Levi, who stared back at him unimpressed.

"Since when have we ever done that?" He said innocently, raising an eyebrow. Mikasa turned firetruck red and looked away.

Erwin raised an eyebrow back at him (which looked way more impressive than Levi had because of those _goddamn caterpillars on his face_) and shuffled through some more papers. "You should probably go home and get some rest," he advised. "It won't do you any good to sleep in here one more night. Any more of that coffee and your intestines will decide they've had enough."

Levi, Armin, and Mikasa nodded at him, then collected their various belongings.

"You know, I think he's right," Armin said amiably as they turned to leave. "I don't think my stomach can handle any more of that tar mixture." He dropped his bags and ran to the bathroom, getting there just in time judging from the sounds he was making.

Levi and Mikasa shared a laugh, then Mikasa picked up Armin's belongings for him and left, leaving Levi to stare longingly down the hall leading to Eren's room before he turned and followed her out.

**~o)0(o~**

The next day, they got to see Eren.

Mikasa went in first, of course, they allowed her that privilege since she really was his only real family member (despite being adopted). Then Armin, and finally Levi, who waited anxiously for his turn because he was scared that maybe the surgery had changed something in Eren. What if, now that he wasn't dying, he decided that he could do better? What if he rejected Levi or decided that he never wanted to speak to him again? What if—

"Hey." Armin tapped him on the shoulder. "It's your turn."

Levi slowly walked into the room, past Petra who gave him a reassuring smile than retreated to the back of the room to give them some privacy. But when he saw Eren, all his worries vanished because it was that same smile, the same sparkle in his eyes. It was his Eren.

"Levi," Eren said happily, his smile wider than the older boy had ever seen it before, and without a moment's hesitation he ran into Eren's arms and kissed him passionately.

"I was so scared you weren't going to make it," he gasped out, choking back tears.

"Hey, you were the one to give me the whole uplifting speech about how I would make it through this," Eren said, pretending to be offended as he kissed Levi again.

"I know, but it was so risky…" Levi's voice cracked and he cleared his throat, embarrassed. "Sorry."

Eren grinned. "There's nothing to be sorry about! I'm so excited. After a couple of weeks, I finally get to go home! And besides those tests and medicine I have to take for my heart, we can be a real couple. Go on real dates. Have real sex." He wiggled his eyebrows at Levi as he said the last part, and the older boy laughed.

"I love you so much," he murmured.

"I love you too, Levi," Eren said, kissing the other boy. And in that moment, it couldn't have been more perfect.

Which is why, of course, things had to go wrong.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Oopsie, another mean cliffhanger...btw sorry if any of them seem OOC, I tried my best...**


	10. Chapter 9

**A/N: I'm so sorry...I'm so so sorry... (heheheh I sound like the Doctor :D). No wait why am I smiling this chapter is depressing I'm supposed to be depressing aww :(**

**Disclaimer: Don't own SNK or anything else except the plot.**

* * *

><p><strong>~Chapter Nine~<strong>

Rehabilitation was going great.

Eren had been released from the hospital with a huge party and lots of hugs and tears from the nurses and doctors that had basically adopted him as their own child. Levi was shocked by the amount of people whose lives Eren had impacted so strongly.

Well, that was two months ago.

A month into his rehabilitation, still taking daily tests with his transplant team, Eren decided to move out from Armin's grandfather's house and instead live with Levi. It wasn't a problem; Levi's house was pretty big and his uncle was hardly there. And that meant they could easily have sex or make-out sessions without fear of being interrupted by Mikasa, Armin, or his grandfather (they'd almost given the old man a heart attack). The tests were all going well, and Eren's new heart showed no signs of rejecting him. Levi and Eren could go on real dates; Eren was able to go back to school to finish up his sophomore year of high school, and Levi was able to scrape together a passing grade for _his _sophomore year of college. They went out to the park frequently, sometimes to a Starbucks, and Eren's collection of paintings and drawings of Levi grew and grew. Some Levi wasn't even aware of, and several new ones of him sleeping appeared every month.

And Levi continued to work on his story. He gave Eren a new chapter every time he finished, and the younger boy devoured them eagerly. He even drew fanart for them sometimes, with Levi helping him with the uniforms of the people in the Survey Corps. It was a fun thing for both of them, and it made Levi love writing even more when Eren's eyes lit up every time he revealed a new chapter.

Levi told Eren stories about Isabel and Farlan and some of their stupid adventures, and Eren told him about his mother and how kind and wonderful she'd been before the fire. They both comforted and helped each other whenever one of them suffered a nightmare, but those were getting less and less frequent as time went on and the pain they had felt was slowly buried beneath the absolute love and adoration they felt for each other. Eren's last attack had been the one he had had when at the hospital with Levi, and the older boy had stopped blaming himself for his friends' deaths after Eren lectured him on it after a particularly horrible nightmare.

Of course, this perfect life couldn't last. And it was perfect. They were completely enamored with each other, and Mikasa started to warm up to Levi more, and the nurses and doctors from the hospital came by sometimes to visit. Levi started to make good friends with them, especially Hanji, which surprised everyone. He even showed them the first few chapters of the story he'd written for Eren.

And then the anniversary of Eren's mom's death came up. Even though the younger boy had basically stopped having nightmares, it didn't mean he was over all the pain and tragedy her death had caused him. Even with Levi there, the impending attack was almost inevitable.

It hit when none of them were expecting it, and at the worst possible time.

Eren had just had his tests with the transplant team the day before, and they had taken the results back the the hospital for analyzing, but the transplant team said he was doing very well and probably didn't have anything to worry about, he just had to watch himself today.

Mikasa was coming over for dinner, Armin was cooking, Levi was trying (and failing) to not set the kitchen on fire, and everything was going well. Eren was upstairs, looking through old photo albums because he wanted to remind himself of what his mother's smile looked like so he remembered some of what his old family was like before he went downstairs to join his new one.

No one knew how horribly wrong things would go.

It started when Levi was wiping down the dinner table, Mikasa was setting it, and Armin was just pulling a pie out of the oven. There was a crash from upstairs, and they all froze instantly, glancing around at the others' expressions before simultaneously dropping what they were doing and sprinting for the stairs.

Mikasa reached Eren's room first, and as soon as she saw what was inside, she quickly ran back down the stairs, pulling Armin with her as she shouted, "We have to call an ambulance!"

Levi ran into the room next. Eren was lying on the floor clutching at his chest as he struggled to take a breath but failed, gasping in pain.

"Eren! Eren, hold on, please," Levi begged, dropping to his knees beside him. _I have to find his inhaler, _he thought numbly, getting up and running to the bedside table and searching through the mess to try to find the inhaler. He shouted in frustration when he couldn't find it and went back to Eren desperately, holding the younger boy in his arms.

"Come on Eren, breathe with me," he said desperately. "Come on. Come on, please don't leave me, I can't live without you…"

"Lev...i," Eren gasped out. "I-I lo...love...y-y-ou…" His green eyes were full of tears that dripped down his cheeks as he struggled to inhale.

"I love you too, and you'll get through this, I promise," Levi felt his own eyes start to fill with tears because he couldn't lose Eren, not now, not ever—

"Step back," a serious voice said and suddenly they were surrounded by paramedics. Levi recognized Erwin's face among them and reluctantly let go of Eren, letting him be taken away by the team of medics. They were his best chance of survival, but it still hurt that they were taking his Eren away from him and he couldn't do anything about it. Never had the feeling of helplessness felt so suffocating.

**~o)0(o~**

Levi and Armin arrived at the hospital only three minutes after the ambulance did. Mikasa had rode in the ambulance, and Levi had let her because she'd known Eren so much longer than he had, and it would be cruel to take this time away from her.

But he still couldn't stop himself from feeling some resentment towards her for taking his own time with Eren away.

When they got into the hospital, the doctors wouldn't let them see Eren. They were apparently performing emergency surgery because Eren's new heart hadn't been able to survive Eren's attack and was now rejecting him. They were trying to give him the drugs that would help to stop the rejection, but it wasn't working.

Levi felt his eyes fill with tears when he heard the news. Eren was dying, just like Isabel and Farlan had, and he couldn't do a thing about it. Gone were the gentle kisses and the passionate "I love yous" whispered in the dark before bed. Gone were the sweet dates and the amazing sex and Eren's bright smiles. Levi's world had turned into heaven while he was with Eren, and now he was plummeting back towards hell.

Mikasa's strong exterior was finally broken by this news and she started crying into Armin's shoulder, who looked like he was trying to fight back tears himself.

"He can't be gone," she cried. "He can't. He's always been so strong...he can't...no…"

"He's not dead yet," Levi said coldly, not bothering to look at the two who raised their faces to him in shock. "The surgery might work in the end."

He knew he was clinging to false hope, but that false hope was all he had right now, and he would be damned if he was going to let go of it. Eren had survived the first surgery, and he'd been doing so well. It was just another attack. He'd survived so many of them before. He was going to survive this one too, and then he was going to come home to them. They were going to have their happily-ever-after.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I'm a terrible person...**


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N: This is the last chapter of this fic...wow, it was so much fun writing it and reading all the reviews! Thank you so much for your support throughout this, although you'll probably hate me for the ending... heheh...**

**Sarah Gore Blackplage: Yes, I have watched the anime, and I have read some of the manga, how else would I be writing a fanfic for it? Of course this isn't canon, it's an AU and a fanfiction, none of this actually happened in the show...just sayin', in case you couldn't tell...**

**Disclaimer: Don't own SNK or the characters**

* * *

><p><strong>~Chapter Ten~<strong>

Levi should've known that happily-ever-afters didn't exist in the real world.

They waited long, agonizing hours in the waiting room for information on Eren, similarly to what they'd done while waiting for him to come out of surgery. Armin threw up several times from the coffee (seriously, what with him being the genius, you'd think he'd have learned already) and Mikasa cried a couple more times, but Levi tried to remain emotionless throughout it all, and he lured himself to sleep with thoughts of Eren's smiling eyes and passionate kisses.

He made sure he remembered every detail of their time together, even the stupid ones, like when Levi fell out of a window while he was trying to reach the dirty spot on the very top, or when Eren brought home a stray cat and it almost clawed his face off when it saw Levi.

Every moment was frozen in his mind, like the details he'd never forget from just before the car crash. He wanted to remember _everything. _

It was two and a half days before Erwin came out with the news, his eyes unnaturally solemn. He walked out with Hanji, who went over to Petra, who was standing at the nurse's station. Whatever Hanji said to her, she suddenly burst into tears, and a sick, dreadful feeling stirred in Levi's stomach.

"I'm sorry," Erwin said, and those two words conveyed everything he meant to say after that, all the things that remained unspoken between them, the words that no one wanted to say because they were too painful.

Mikasa and Armin burst into tears, holding each other. Levi didn't do anything. He could feel the tears lurking at the edges of his vision but he didn't let them go. He remained detached from the situation because if he let himself cry, the pain and agony that would come flooding in would be too much.

He'd lost everything. He'd promised Eren they'd be together forever, but then it'd slipped away. He was alone again, and it had never felt more painful.

"He's dead," he whispered to himself, and Erwin nodded, looking sick.

"How could you?!" Levi shouted, grabbing a fistful of Erwin's shirt and shoving him up against the wall. "You were supposed to save him and you _let him die!_"

"Levi, calm down," Erwin said in an irritatingly unfazed way. "There was nothing we could do."

"How can you be so _calm_?" Levi felt himself breaking down and a few tears slipped down his cheeks. "He's dead! He's fucking dead and he's never coming back!"

He broke down, sobs forcing their way up his throat and tears flowing endlessly from his eyes. Erwin pulled him to a hug, the man's strong arms encircling Levi, but it didn't make him feel any better because he'd lost everything. Eren was gone, forever.

**~o)0(o~**

Levi didn't go to the funeral. He couldn't handle seeing Eren pale and dead, looking like he was asleep only he was never going to wake back up. Mikasa had chosen an open-casket funeral, and Levi didn't understand why she would do something so cruel to herself and to all of Eren's loved ones.

Instead, he stayed at home in their shared room and looked through Eren's belongings; the love notes from Levi that he'd saved, his messy clothes, the books he'd always loved, and finally, his sketchbook. Another sob built in Levi's throat when he saw the book. It was worn and old, but cared for lovingly. He flipped through the drawings. Some were of Mikasa and Armin and his mother, there were a few of Marco and Jean holding hands and looking into each other's eyes lovingly, but most were of him. Eren's sketchbook was filled with drawings of Levi, sometimes smiling, sometimes scowling, drawn from all different angles with painstaking detail. Then Levi saw the one Eren had made when they'd been in the hospital together, the one of Levi sleeping that was definitely the best of all his works.

Levi looked at the drawing and cried, tears dripping onto the paper and smudging Eren's careful lines. He cried out in anger when he saw the blemishes on the page and ripped it out of the sketch pad, tearing it in anger and ripping it again and again until only small pieces remained. He then went through most of the notebook, destroying almost all the drawings except for one. It was one of him and Eren together, kissing, drawn from a photo that Armin had taken of them a while back. He wanted to rip it out, destroy it, but he couldn't bring himself to. Instead, he turned to his old, beaten-up laptop and opened the story he'd been writing for Eren. The younger boy had read through it all, sometimes adding in details here and there were he thought it could be improved. Levi's eyes filled with tears and his finger hovered over the delete button, the one that would erase all traces of the story.

But he couldn't do it. This story had been Eren's just as much as it had been his, and it seemed so _wrong _for it to just be gone. Levi opened up the document and scrolled to the last page. He'd been almost finished with it and wanted to present it to Eren as a present on the anniversary of his mom's death, but then Eren had had his attack and all previous plans had been forgotten. He hesitated for a moment, then started typing.

**~o)0(o~**

_Eren stood on top of Wall Maria next to Levi, Mikasa, Armin, and the rest of the Survey Corps. The Titans were gone. They'd defeated them all, even the Colossal Titan and the Armored Titan. Those betrayals had been hard on everyone, but they'd done it. And now they were all free. They could go to the outside world, see the oceans, the lands of ice and fire and sand. _

"_We're finally free, Heichou," Eren said happily, gazing out into the world, the new one that they were about to explore. Their mission was complete. They could finally be happy together. _

"_It's funny, I thought this would feel more complete," Eren frowned, "but there's something missing."_

_Levi looked over to him. "I think so too."_

_Eren glanced at him and his eyes widened at the expression on his superior's face, and with only a second's hesitation, he leaned in and kissed Levi. _

_The corporal was so shocked for a moment he almost didn't kiss back, but when Eren began to pull away, disappointed and embarrassed, he grabbed the younger boy and kissed him back hungrily. Eren's eyes lit up and he dissolved into the passionate kiss._

"_I think that was what's missing," Levi said, a small smile gracing his lips as they turned to look out over the unexplored territory, lit on fire by the setting sun's rays._

"_Are you ready?" Eren asked him. Levi nodded, and together they jumped off the wall, activating their 3DMG and heading out into the unknown._

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Hope y'all liked it...sorry about the ending, but it could not be avoided (well, it probably could have, I just like causing a lot of pain. And angst. Whatever). **


End file.
